Name: Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Herb Croutons
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American, British
Ingredients: 120g of wholemeal bread (approx 4 low calories slices); 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder; pinch of sea salt; 1/2 tsp of dried parsley; cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray); 1 small onion, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons of fresh sage, chopped; cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray); pinch of sea salt; 1/2 cup (120ml) of water; 650g of butternut squash, chopped; 1 large onion, chopped; 150g of celery, chopped; 2 cloves of garlic, minced; 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle; 3 cups (720ml) of vegetable stock (use 2 cups/480ml for Instant Pot method); Salt and Black Pepper to season; cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray)

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Butternut Squash Soup - the perfect winter soup with the delicious subtle sweetness of butternut squash and amazing flavours of fresh sage, finished off with crunchy golden garlic and herb wholemeal croutons.

Butternut Squash with Crispy Garlic and Herb Croutons

Don't settle for just a bowl of soup, take it that one step further by finishing off your soup with some crispy garlic and herb croutons. The really take a bowl of soup to a whole other level.

So simple to make too, just by using a healthy extra b serving of wholemeal bread, some garlic powder, salt and dried parsley and baked in the oven with cooking oil spray until golden and crunchy - yum!!

Do I have to make the croutons?

Nope not at all, but trust me when I say they are worth it. I love textures in my soup, just a smooth soup on it's own is too much like baby food for me.

Save some time by tripling up the recipe for the croutons and keeping them in a air tight container, they will keep a few days and are on hand for sprinkling on soups.

Onion and Sage Mix

You may be wondering if you can just add the fresh sage and additional onion when starting the whole soup and you certainly can do that if you want, but you won't get those beautiful flecks of caramelized onion and sage in the soup if you do that.

This just makes the soup so much more pretty and delicious and stop is looking like just a plain ole orangey yellow soup.

Using frozen butternut squash?

If you do not have fresh butternut squash on hand and wondering if you can use frozen? Personally I find frozen squash lacks in flavour compared to fresh squash, it just doesn't taste as nice for me. But if frozen is all you have and you really want to make the soup, then by all means give it a try.

Can this soup be cooked in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)?

Yep it sure can, when I am rushed for time I've occasionally made this in the instant pot. I cook for 7 minutes on high pressure, then quick release the pressure once it beeps and the soup is ready to be blended once cooled down a little.

You can do the onion/sage mix on the stove top while it cooks in the pressure cooker.

How to slice butternut squash?

One of the reasons some prefer to use frozen squash is because they hate the task of peeling and chopping butternut squash, it's quite a firm and hard vegetables.

The easiest method for me is to place a chopping board on a kitchen towel to prevent it moving about and using a good quality sharp peeler, remove all the peel. Then using a sharp santoku knife, I chop off the long nose part, this is then easier to dice or chop, with the large bulb part, I slice into 4 pieces, scoop out the seeds and then you can easily dice those parts too.

Can this soup be frozen?

This soup is a great one for freezing, either in handy portion sized containers or one large container. Either defrost fully in the fridge and warm up in a pan on the stove or you can microwave until heated through.

Other topping ideas for Butternut Squash Soup

If you are skipping the croutons, maybe because you don't fancy them or are gluten free, you may be wondering what else you can add to the soup to make it more filling.

Some of my favourites are to add some protein:

Cooked sausage
Leftover Cooked Chicken
Carnitas
or pan fry some chickpeas in a pan with garlic, salt and paprika with a little spray oil until golden

More Soup Recipes

Looking for some other soup recipes? Check out these:

FRESH TOMATO AND BASIL SOUP
CHICKEN CHICKPEA SPINACH SOUP
HEARTY VEGETABLE SOUP
EASY ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP
GINGER CARROT CAULIFLOWER SOUP (STOVETOP OR INSTANT POT)
CHICKEN AND LENTIL SOUP
EASY SYN FREE CHICKPEA AND TOMATO SOUP

or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, syn value and smart points etc

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Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Herb Croutons

Yield: SERVES 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Butternut Squash - the perfect winter soup with the delicious subtle sweetness of butternut squash and amazing flavours of fresh sage, finished off with crunchy golden garlic and herb wholemeal croutons.

Ingredients

650g of butternut squash, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
150g of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle
3 cups (720ml) of vegetable stock (use 2 cups/480ml for Instant Pot method)
Salt and Black Pepper to season
cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray)

For the onion/sage mix in:

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh sage, chopped
cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray)
pinch of sea salt
½ cup (120ml) of water

For the garlic herb croutons:

120g of wholemeal bread (approx 4 low calories slices)
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
pinch of sea salt
½ tsp of dried parsley
cooking oil spray (I used olive oil spray)

Instructions

For the garlic and herb croutons (can be made while the soup is cooking)

Preheat oven to 200c (180c fan) 400f or gas mark 6
Slice each slice of bread into 4 equal sized long strips and then slice each strip into equal sized squares.
Place in a small bowl, add the pinch of garlic powder, sea salt and parsley and mix to coat.
Spread on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and spray with some cooking oil spray.
Bake for approx 8 minutes until crunchy and golden. Remove and set aside.

For the onion and sage mix (can be made while the soup is cooking)

Spray a frying pan with some cooking oil spray over a medium high heat, add the onion and pinch of sea salt and fry until golden and caramelized (this will take 15 minutes), keep adding in a little splash of water as needed to prevent them from drying out too much or burning.
Once really softened and browned, you can add in the fresh sage and fry for another minute of so just to infuse the flavour of the sage. The mix is then ready to stir through the soup once the soup is cooked.

Stove Top Soup Method

Spray a large saucepan over a medium high heat with Spray oil.
Add the onion and celery and fry till softened.
Add the garlic, butternut squash, fennel and a little salt and black pepper and fry for a further couple of mins.
Pour in the stock, bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for approx 30 mins until squash has softened.
Then add to a blender and blend until smooth. (always be careful not to overfill blender with hot liquid)
Add back to the pan (if you prefer a thinner soup you can add a bit more stock at this stage) and stir in the onion and sage mix until combined and heated through.
Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
Serve and enjoy (topped with the croutons)

Instant Pot Soup Method

Set instant pot to saute mode, once it display hot, spray with cooking oil spray
Add the onion and celery and fry till softened.
Add the garlic, butternut squash, fennel and a little salt and black pepper and fry for a further couple of mins.
Pour in the stock (2 cups) and stir to combine.
Add lid, close valve if not self sealing, set instant pot to high pressure for 7 minutes.
Once it finishes cooking, open the valve to quick release the pressure.
Then add to a blender and blend until smooth. (always be careful not to overfill blender with hot liquid).
Add back to the instant pot, taste and season with salt and black pepper, set to saute mode and stir in the onion/sage mix until combined.
Serve and enjoy (topped with the croutons)

Notes

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly

Slimming World - syn free per serving (½ HEa for the croutons)
WW Green Smart Points - 1 per serving
WW Blue Smart Points - 1 per serving
WW Purple Smart Points - 1 per serving
Gluten Free - omit the croutons (or use gluten free bread) and use gluten free stock
Paleo/Whole30 - omit croutons and use olive oil instead of spray oil

SUITABLE FOR FREEZING

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Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1 SERVING (with croutons)
Amount Per Serving Calories 225Total Fat 1.8gSaturated Fat 0.5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 0mgSodium 763mgCarbohydrates 50gFiber 16.2gSugar 10.6gProtein 11.5g